Brief update

Matt's new ride.  Clare said, "How come Daddy gets all the new toys?" Hmmm, a push lawnmower, chainsaw, four-wheeler with snow blower attachment... I had to explain to her that those aren't exactly toys, even for a guy.  But the bike?  Yes, it's a bit of a toy.  It'll make the longer commute to work more enjoyable for a few months anyway.

When you live in the country, you never know who might show up in your yard:

One morning, two Holsteins came to visit: a heifer and a young bull.  They seemed perfectly happy hanging out in our yard, and yes, drinking from the kiddie pool:

"Don't mind if we do..."

The kids were excited and Clare really wanted to pet one.  The heifer let me pet her nose but lost interest when I didn't have treats.

 We let them hang around for awhile but when they started doing their business in the chicken coop I let Molly out and she barked enough to send them on their way.  (Earlier we had notified several neighbors who own cows, to see if they were missing any but got no positive responses.)

Clare especially loves the frogs and toads that frequent our yard.  She likes to catch them and make little homes for them with containers and leaves and rocks.  We have to remind her to let them go at the end of each day, if they haven't already found freedom on their own.

This big guy has shown up three times now, in the yard and in the garden.

 Perhaps one of the best things about country life: cookouts.  Clare LOVES doing hot dogs over the fire.

Life in the country keeps getting busier: we decided to get three lambs to raise for meat.  Although our barn had a nice stall already, Matt took Steve's advice (the man we're getting our lambs from) and built a new stall in an opposite corner so we can leave the door open all day and not have to lead our lambs through the barn to pasture.  It was a bit of extra work.

The kids have been soaking up some fun in the sun lately.  Nora is a little fish in the water and is also pretty adept at building sandcastles:

This guy is happy anywhere there is sand or dirt and tools to manipulate it.

This $0.97 swim ring was the best purchase we made this summer (with the exception of the motorcycle, of course).  Clare has had so much fun in the water with her new toy:

And that is it for now.  This post is over a month late.  Next up: Nora's birthday.